There are many manners for documenting framework-based computer applications, whether using an automated or manual system. For example, in the waterfall model, where the development process is sequential, it is typical to document job requirements, specifications, and other software design needs at the beginning of development, usually after necessary requirements have been gathered. Then, following the requirements gathering, the development proceeds with design, implementation, testing, and finally maintenance. Such a development model lends itself to straightforward projects that are designed prior to actual coding. This is not the case when the requirements and the design of the computer application are constantly in flux and not known prior to the implementing the application. In such situations, a cyclic prototyping software development process with iterative development and reviews is more appropriate, and system requirements are typically created after the iterative process is complete. Automating documentation, such as automating specification drafting and report generation, is more practical than manual documentation when requirements and design of a computer application are in flux and/or unknown prior to implementation.
The automation of documentation in a development cycle is well known in the field of computer science. However, systems for automating documentation in an iterative development process specifically for framework-based applications are rare and typically limited to applications that analyze static code. Usually, solutions are merely translators that examine static source code syntax and static values and translate them into a natural language such as English. (For the purposes of this disclosure natural language is any spoken or written language that is not a computer programming language.) A solution is needed to further document the affects of a framework on the static source code when the interpretive framework engine translates the code and its filled variables into an interactive computer application with dynamic user interactions under varied conditions. This would provide a new dimension in automated documentation that could act as a stand-alone auto-documentation approach or one that could be used in conjunction with static code documenters known in the art.